Chiles and Bleakley joined ITV last year from the BBC on exclusive deals reportedly worth a combined £10m amid much fanfare about their leading role in Daybreak, which replaced GMTV as ITV1's breakfast programme in September 2010.

ITV said that it has reached mutual agreements with Chiles and Bleakley that will see them give up their Daybreak roles "later this year" and instead fulfil their contractual obligations on other "peak-time commitments with ITV1".

Chiles's main priority will now be his role as the anchor of ITV's football coverage including the FA Cup and Champions League, and his satirical programme That Sunday Night Show will return for a third series next year.

Bleakley had already been confirmed as the new co-host of Dancing On Ice – after Holly Willoughby left to front the BBC's upcoming The X Factor rival The Voice – with ITV handing her additional duties including Westlife: For the Last Time and charity entertainment show Text Santa.

ITV said that it is in the process of developing two new peak time shows for Bleakley, a "factual entertainment challenge" show and a "home renovation" programme.

The ITV director of television, Peter Fincham, who oversaw the replacement of GMTV with Daybreak last year, described Chiles and Bleakley as "superb presenters".

"They have worked tirelessly to help establish Daybreak on ITV1 and they leave the show at a point when ratings have recently seen their biggest year-on-year increase," he said.

Speculation over who is in the running to take over hosting Daybreak has been rife.

One heavily tipped contender, Sky News breakfast presenter Eamonn Holmes, signed a new three-year deal on Thursday to stay with the news channel. Natasha Kaplinsky has also ruled herself out, with a spokesperson citing "anti-social hours" at the breakfast show as a turn-off.

Other names in the running to take over from Chiles include BBC breakfast sports presenter Chris Hollins, ITV News presenter Keir Simmons and Channel 5 News host Matt Barbet.

Simmons has already occasionally stood in for Chiles on Daybreak, while Barbet has previously worked with incoming Daybreak editor David Kermode.

Names in the running to take Bleakley's role include Sian Williams, the BBC1 breakfast presenter who is not moving with the show to Salford. Williams has also worked with Kermode when he was BBC Breakfast editor.

One newspaper report earlier this week speculated that ITV was looking for unknown presenters as replacements in the hope of re-creating the hit pairing of then unknowns Anne Diamond and Nick Owen on TV-am in the 1980s, a strategy that would see the broadcaster slash the reported salary of £10m paid to Bleakley and Chiles.

This has fuelled speculation that presenters such as Tim Lovejoy and Gethin Jones might be in with a shout to replace Chiles; while names such as Helen Fospero, who did well as a guest presenter recently, and Sinead Desmond, presenter of TV3 breakfast show Ireland AM, have been mentioned.

Lucy Watson, Daybreak's northern reporter, has also been cited as a possible candidate. Kate Garraway and Dan Lobb, currently part of the Daybreak team, could also see their roles boosted in the Daybreak reshuffle.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook